Title doesn't mean much to Breuning
By KARL PUCKETT • Tribune Staff Writer • July 20, 2009
Walter Breuning of Great Falls, who is 112, downplayed being the oldest man in the world Sunday after 113-year-old Henry Allingham of England died Saturday, but others paused to acknowledge the milestone.
So you're the king on the hill," 95-year-old John Kenny kidded Breuning as they passed each other in the lobby of the Rainbow Retirement Home, where Breuning lives.
As Breuning sat in the sun room, other residents stopped to offer congratulations.
"It's not half as important as feeling good," Breuning said.
Breuning said he's most grateful for his good health, not a world title, noting that he still is hungry for breakfast when he gets up each morning.
"If you're in good health, you've got everything there is," he said.
Following Allingham's death, both the Guinness World Records and Gerontology Research Group Web sites listed Breuning as the world's oldest man, pending verification.
Longevity doesn't run in Breuning's family.
Breuning said his father, a civil engineer, died at 50, and his mother, a housewife, at 46. Two brothers and two sisters died in their 70s, he said.
Breuning credits his longevity to keeping busy and moderation.
He worked until he was 66, retiring in 1963 after a long career with Great Northern Railway, where
he began work at 16 in Minnesota before transferring to Great Falls five years later.
But he continued to serve as the manager-secretary of the local Shriner's Club until he was 99.
For the past 30 years, Breuning has eaten two meals a day, including good-sized helpings of fruit. The country's growing problem with obesity is easy to explain, he says. "They eat too much."
He takes no pills and still walks up the ramps to get to his second-floor apartment each day after breakfast.
When he was younger, Breuning said he enjoyed an occasional beer or "high ball," but he didn't drink in excess. He gave up his beloved cigars, which he had smoked all of his life, when he was 99.
Breuning was born in Melrose, Minn., on Sept. 21, 1896, the year William McKinley won the presidency. Breuning cast his first presidential ballot for Woodrow Wilson, who served from 1913 to 1921, and he's voted in every presidential election since.
As a young boy, the family moved to Minneapolis and later to De Smet S.D.
A lot has changed over the past century, he says. "I bet you never saw a horse pull a fire engine."
|
Walter Breuning, who is 112, has lived at the Rainbow Retirement facility in downtown Great Falls for 29 years. "It's not half as important as feeling good," he said of the possibility of being the world's oldest man. (TRIBUNE PHOTO/KARL PUCKETT)
LINK TO VIDEO OF WALTER BREUNING:
April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008